Tuesday, December 10, 2013

One of my favorite Christmas activities is reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas with my class and creating a lapbook. The kids are so familiar with the story that it’s easy to apply the comprehension skills we have been learning.

Here’s an example of a completed lapbook.

If you would like a FREE copy, click on the picture above to download the file from Google Drive. The font I used is called Grinched and I got it from dafont.com. You can get it by clicking here.

I have a similar product for sale on TpT. The TpT version is customizable to use with any picture book. So, if you want the FREE Grouch version, click on the picture above. If you want to make a lapbook for the story you’re currently reading, click below.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

It finally warmed up here, although it’s not really very warm. In my neck of the woods it doesn’t usually get this cold so soon.

Here are the winners of my Oh Snow! games:

Garden Full of Knowledge and Angie are the lucky winners! Ladies, please email me at hootyshomeroom at gmail dot com and let me know which version you would prefer: addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Baby, it’s cold outside!! I’ve been working on this new fact practice set for a couple of weeks now. Ironically, I was able to finish it on a day school closed early because of icy conditions.

For those of you who are familiar with my BOOM! games, OH SNOW! is the same game with a seasonal makeover. OH SNOW! is a multiplayer fact practice game where students take turns drawing fact cards. They get to keep the card if they know the correct answer. The winner is the person with the most cards when the OH SNOW! card is drawn.

I created a set for each of the 4 operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

I plan to store my games in cute snowman sacks I picked up at Walmart.

If anyone is interested in getting a FREE set, leave a comment below. I’ll have a random drawing when the temperature here gets above freezing – sometime Sunday afternoon.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Time sure has been flying by this year! I can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving already. Each year my teamies and I send home this awesome project. The kids are told to disguise their turkeys so they won’t be eaten for Thanksgiving. I’m always amazed at what the kids come up with.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

I hope everyone is enjoying fall. Now that we have finally gotten some cooler temperatures here in Texas, maybe our poor air conditioner can take a break.

I have reformatted my paper bag matter book so that it will print better. If you already have a copy of it, please hop on over to TpT and download the new version.

This activity uses large paper sacks (12” H x 8.5” W x 6” D). They aren’t the full-size grocery bags, but they are pretty big. I bought mine from Sam’s Club, but I would imagine that other wholesale clubs would also carry them.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Have you seen other teachers use their ipads as whiteboards? I have and I was jealous because I didn’t have an ipad. BUT, I do have an android tablet that I just love. I recently came across an app that will let you control your computer from anywhere in your classroom. You can annotate over anything on your computer screen and display it through a data projector. I LOVE IT! The app is called Splashtop Whiteboard and it works for ipads but it’s also the 1st app I have seen that works for android tablets.

Check out this video -

I’ve used this app to control a PowerPoint presentation as I roamed around my classroom. Another time, we played a PowerPoint game with it. I took the tablet to students and let them select the correct answer. Let me tell you, student participation for that lesson was at an all time high!

All you need to get started is the Splashtop Streamer app for your computer, the Splashtop Whiteboard app for your tablet, and a WiFi connection. Easy peasy!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Do you ever feel like you’re going around in circles teaching rounding? OH MY -Rounding is such a tough skill to teach! I really tried hard this week to teach rounding to my kiddos. I spent a lot of time using visuals, and for the most part, it worked.

We used rounding charts.

We worked with number lines.

We sorted.

And, we played PowerPoint games.

If you want need some rounding charts, click on the picture below. There are several different charts in this FREEBIE.